Monday, July 21, 2008

The Electric Prunes - "The Great Banana Hoax" (Reprise)

Well, well, well, once again it's time to slap on a quality piece of vinyl insanity for you to dig. This time, we set the time machine all the way back to 1967 for this psychotic psychedelic noisefest-a-rama by that great psychedelic band The Electric Prunes.

In 1966, the Prunes scored a Top 20 hit with the classic "I Had Too Much To Dream" (Last Night) and a Top 30 hit with "Get Me To The World On Time. " This one is the second single released from their second album "Underground," and like "Dream," it's produced by Dave Hassinger, who previously had added his engineering skills to records by The Rolling Stones and The Byrds.

Interestingly, I just finished a book by Domenic Priore called "Riot on Sunset Strip" that mentions the Prunes. It states that with their next album "Mass In F Minor " (produced by David Axelrod, the group's full membership only played on two of the cuts. The rest is performed with a mix of studio musicians. On this 45, you get the real deal, thank goodness.

It starts off a little soft, but it soon picks up speed with rumbling drums, twangy guitar and piercing organ. Then it goes soft again for the break, but lo and behold, a blastin' fuzz guitar solo smokes the place again, and the Prunes keep up this level of intensity up until the fade-out. I don't where this ranks among any Prunes afficionados, but I completely dig it and I hope you'll join me in my digging it.

Oh, and if you ever find the single "You Never Had It Better," grab it immediately. It really smokes. But for now, let's enjoy the Electric Prunes firing on all cylinders for this killer cut.

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